


i'll do whatever it takes to be the mistake you can't live without

by brokennbutterfly



Series: the high road [1]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bad Boy!Dean, Bullying (mentions mostly), Fluff and Angst, M/M, Nerd!Seth, Swearing, Underage Drinking, also very sarcastic seth, bc you know it's high school?, i won't say humor because humor's fucked up, ok this turned out to be a bit of a slow burn, this is a cliché because i love them, yep i am doing THAT, you're not gonna guess who are seth's parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 15:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13390599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokennbutterfly/pseuds/brokennbutterfly
Summary: Bad boys only want two things with the nerds: to pick on them or to ask them for help. Or both at the same time. Seth can't say he's impressed when Dean asks him for help to graduate. At the end, Seth just hopes that he doesn't get his head shoved into the toilet in the process.





	i'll do whatever it takes to be the mistake you can't live without

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bulletwithbutterflywings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bulletwithbutterflywings/gifts).



> welp this probably sucks because i'm going thru bad shit, i lack of introspection so much that this probably won't be too deep and also, i'm not a native speaker, i haven't studied english in months and i have a very limited vocabulary because i'm trash, so feel free to yell @ me if you spot terrible, cursed mistakes, grammar mistakes or mispellings. just be nice, ya know. btw, i love dean and seth and three days grace rocks.

Seth Rollins was _not_ having a good day.

Mind you, though, people like him (who study all the time, stay at home to study, _people who actually study_ ) are known to have bad days more often than not but this was probably just one of the worst days Seth might've experienced. All right, yes, he's young, but it still counts.

It all started when he asked his father--well, one of this fathers--ok, that must sound confusing. Yep. Definitely confusing.

So, Seth was born through surrogacy and that's because his parents are two men--it's a wonder, now that Seth thinks about it, how did they get together in the first place; two very different people that one day decided to have a son. Great idea. Anyway, his parents are probably not what people imagine as ideal parents; Jeff, the older (and Seth supposes he's the mom... but, that's no one's business), is what people call extreme. He rides a big motorcycle (of which his other father, Phil, does not approve of), has a huge dragon tattoo on his back and roots that start behind his ear and finishes on his right hand, and he's usually seen with more than one color on his head.

In retrospective, it isn't weird that he's asked his father to dye his hair. And it also doesn't surprise him that the color he asked for isn't the one that is painted on one half of his hair. He'd asked blonde, like platinum blonde, and for some reason he's seeing yellow. He looks like an asshole. He'd probably look like an asshole too if he'd dyed it blonde, but at least he'd like it.

But no, Jeff had to screw it up. 

On top of that, he's running late to school. He doesn't run late, ever. He's got perfect attendance and he's just not about to fuck up just because Jeff doesn't know how to dye hair properly (or choose an appropiate time to dye it, that also works, Seth supposes). He wants to be at school early, if possible, and it has _nothing_ to do with the fact that he's practically the teachers' pet.

"Pretty girl!" a voice yells from the stairs at the entrance of school. Seth closes his eyes; _that's_ the reason, he thinks.

Seth doesn't really know how it started. He's just a skinny boy with long black (and yellow) hair and a bit of stubble and he has no idea why these fuckers are calling him 'pretty girl' in the first place. Seth, though, minds his business; he keeps walking, as if he hasn't heard them--he's used to this, he knows how to deal with it.

Seth is climbing up the stairs outside the building when one of the boys is suddenly standing before him, blocking his way; using an outsanding speed that Seth never thought of Randy Orton--of all people--being capable of having. Randy is the local bad boy, long and strong arms, thick thighs that Seth's definitely not looking at, standing over six foot tall. Randy Orton is the kind of bad boy that could have anything he wanted, if he tried to look for it. And for some reason, Seth's his punching bag.

Well, not exactly--he hasn't touched him yet, but he wouldn't put it past Randy that he will one day. After all, he's been doing all this mockery for years.

It's instictive, the way he clutches at his notebooks (the ones that couldn't make it to his bag) and steps back, almost tripping because he's forgotten that he was standing on a step for a moment.

"Are you ignoring me, pretty girl?" Randy's smirks are the worst. They always bring something else, something dark. Something that Seth Rollins and nobody else would definitely not like.

Seth swallows a big lump, as he tries not to make eye contact with him. "No, I didn't know you were there," lies, but he didn't have to know that, right? Seth's just trying to save himself from being thrown into a trash can.

Randy's still smirking when he sets his eyes on the yellow brand of his hair, lifting a few hairs up. Seth tiltes his head away, but Randy's fingers are firm on them, so he just stops trying.

"What did you do to your hair, though?"

Fair enough, it's a nice question.

"Randy, I'm running late--

"Wow, you know me," Randy looks amused. Seth's mouth is agape. For real? This guy's forgotten that he's been bothering him since freshman year? _The audacity._ "I didn't know you could say my name, pretty girl."

"Could you stop calling me 'pretty girl'? You should really find a new insult," Seth says, seriously. He's done with him. It's not something you normally tell a problematic student, but who cares at thit point, he's running late, Randy has a handful of his yellow hair and his father fucked his hair up, what could Randy do to worsen his day already?

Randy grins. "Would you prefer 'princess'?"

Ok, Seth will admit that he walked right into that one. Frustrated mostly with himself, he slaps Randy's hand off of his hair and decides to walk into classes. "Bye, Randy," Seth tries--oh, he does--to walk past him like he owns the moment, but the minute he's moved to a side, Randy's again on his face (all right, his chest was on his face to be more specific) and he's smirking darker than Seth wishes.

"You're not going anywhere, princess," Randy doesn't sound too seriously when he says it, but he's kind of demanding and Seth's so scared that he goes one step down. He can be tough as much as he wants to, but Randy towers over him and can practically throw him to the nearest trash can from where he's standing right now with little to no effort. 

From the corner of his eye, he can see the rest of Orton's friends laughing at him. Great. A normal day.

Seth's aware of how this is going to follow--Randy is going to laugh at him, at his skinny look and now yellow hair, at his 'nerdiness' as he so gladly put it once, and then he's going to grab him by the shoulders and do whatever he wants (he usually pushes Seth away until he falls to the floor, but one never knows in what mood Randy is in).

Seth turns his head to one side and then to another, in a desperate but stupid attempt to look for help--but, of course, it's been twenty minutes since the bell rang and nobody's around to listen his sorry ass for help. For now, he's just counting the minutes until Randy grabs him and his body hits a trash can--

"Don't be an asshole, Randy," another voice says. It's raspy, a voice Seth doesn't recognize at first, but the first thought on his mind was that _Randy being an asshole was a fucking understatement_ and _also, it's been twenty minutes, what the fuck was that person doing--_

Oh.

Seth opens his eyes--yes, he's a coward and has closed his eyes when he started counting the minutes until his demise--and spots Dean Ambrose standing behind Randy Orton. It isn't a good visual, if you ask Seth. Dean's also one of the 'bad boys', but he's more of a lone wolf, probably because he'd had a big fight with Randy not a long time ago and since then, he's been flying solo. 

Many rumors have been spreading about Dean ever since he turned his back on Randy (fighting Orton isn't something that many people would dare to do, unless their name is Dean Ambrose and they don't care about reputation and shit) and even though Seth's aware that Randy's gang could've spreaded them in the first place, he couldn't deny that Dean looked like the kind of guy that would set a car on fire or break windows in random houses. Needless to say, Randy and Dean are the last two people Seth needed to see in a day like this.

"Ambrose," it's like Randy is announcing his arrival. It's funny. Well, Seth guesses it's his time to leave, so he slowly but subtly starts moving. "You finally decided to show up."

Randy's right. Dean hasn't been seen for a week. But Dean tends to skip school like he's a runaway kid. Seth supposes there's nothing wrong with it, especially because Dean couldn't care less about high school education. Anyway, Seth keeps moving--slower this time, he's fucking curious as of how this is going to finish, besides, he's late regardless of his subsequent actions.

Oh, no, he's acting just like the bad boys.

"I'm havin' my fun," Dean says scruffily as he shrugs, his hands deep in his pockets. He couldn't have cared less about high school uniform, he just took the first jeans he's seen and the first tank top he's washed, and his characteristic leather jacket. "You ain't stopped bein' an asshole, huh?" he then clocks his eyes on Seth--having climbed up the stairs, which obviously impressed Randy a bit--and Seth freezes.

"What do you want, Ambrose?" Randy inquires, turning to look at Seth and then at Dean, and Seth wonders when the fuck did he get involved in this crap.

Dean smirks--at him. Not at Randy, not at anyone else--he's smirking at Seth Rollins and this is not a drill. "Are you ok, Rollins?" he asks him, soft and gentle, walking slowly towards him.

_Towards him._

Is he going to throw him to a trash can as well? Or even worse so, is he going to shove Seth's head deep into the toilet? God forbid Seth's considering his destiny at the moment, but the recycle bin is cleaner.

"Y-yes," he stammers and then swallows. "I'm ok."

It's a very slight movement, but the message is clear; the way Dean tilts his head towards the school building, smirking a bit, side-eyeing Randy at the very same time. Seth doesn't waste the opportunity, either--his father Phil taught him that in the least healthy of the ways. He doesn't forget to mouth a "thank you" before leaving, it's the least he can do, and the last thing Seth's eyes catch is Dean's smile before turning on his heel.

Hell, he's known Dean since freshman year and he's never, ever seen him smile. At all.

Seth runs to the school building, luckily finding the door open, and once he steps inside, he pauses. Not only because there's a teacher calling his name, he's probably going to be suspended or whatever, but the noises behind him picks his curiosity. He turns around. And he catches it.

Not once in his life Seth's ever seen someone fight for him. And granted, he's sure Seth has nothing to do with Dean and Randy's beef, but he's fighting Orton and that... is something, right?

* * *

"What 'appened!?" to his credit, his Irish best friend, Finn, looks astonished.

Fortunately, Seth didn't get suspended. He'd somehow convinced the teacher and then the principal that Randy Orton forced him to run late to school--when in reality, it's his father's fault. He received no kind of warnings whatsoever either, so that's a good for him, he supposes that being the teacher's pet had its perks. Seth was ultimately allowed to go to classes, where Finn Bálor--his only and best friend--had saved him a place.

"It's a long story," Seth whispers in response, setting his bag and notebooks down on the table.

Finn grimaces. He hates it when Seth doesn't tell him the long stories. "At least, tell me who was involved. And what tha' hell did you do to yer hair!"

"I wanted it blonde!" the whisper came out too loud for the teacher's likeness and Seth had to mouth an 'I'm sorry' as Mr. Cole glared at them both. "Jesus. Anyway, I wanted it blonde," he repeats, his voice barely a whisper now, "and my father--hell, I don't know what he did, maybe I should ask him when I get back."

"He dyed it yellow. Missed the blonde thing," _geez, Finn, thank you._

"I know, I'm aware, Finn," Seth hisses.

Finn laughs very softly; he laughs about everything, Seth wonders how can he do that. Laugh. "Anyway, don'tcha dodge the question."

"All right!" Seth says, "It involves Randy and Dean."

"Dean? As in... Dean Ambrose?" Seth nods frantically, as he opens his books. He's far behind in this class and he can't believe that Finn is making it worse. "I 'aven't seen that guy in years."

It makes Seth wonders what the hell is he doing right now. Is he engaged in a fight? With Randy, of all people? Seth's not one to underestimate the physical strength of any student, but he's skinny, so what does he know about strength? Absolutely nothing. He did gym once and he almost died. But Dean isn't as built as Orton, he's rather lean while Orton's size could just cover the sun for Dean.

Seth shakes his head. Is he thinking about Dean Ambrose now? Yes, ok, he said his last name--Seth didn't think that his last name was so important to Dean to save it as vital information, Seth guesses he could just have forgotten about it since they've never spoken to each other, ever; he's only had a few classes here and there with Dean. Apart from that, there was nothing that connected him with Dean.

"Me either," Seth sighs. He hopes the day ends faster than usual.

* * *

Much to his chagrin, Seth realizes that his day is only going to get worse when Dean Ambrose walks to Finn and Seth's table during lunch. As soon as he notices the guy walking up to their table with his food, Seth lower his head as much as he can, which highly alarms Finn in a way.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Seth's desperate and it's an underestatement, since the last person he wants to be seen with is Dean Ambrose. "Fucking, hell no."

"Don't be dramatic," Finn says. Seth wants to smack that chill soul out of him. "Hey, Dean!"

As much as he loves Finn, Seth sometimes ponders on the fact that he might've chosen one of the worst friends ever. Seth raises his head quickly, because he's already looking like a dork, and tries not to look at Dean Ambrose in the eyes, but it's hard because he's almost digging a hole on his forehead with his baby blue eyes.

"A 'thank you' would've sufficed, Rollins," Dean says, smiling cheekly, as he sits down in front of Seth and Finn. "Hi, Finn."

"Hi--

"You've already said hi to him!" Seth interrumpts suddenly, smacking Finn's shoulder much to his surprise, and he's aware that if he wasn't looking like an idiot before, he's definitely looking like one right now, but it doesn't stop him from leaning into the table and closer to Dean. "What are you doing here? I already told you, thanks for saving me."

In the midst of his attempt to look tough and hard-kicking, Seth notices a slight bruise forming on Dean's left eye and it involuntarily causes his features to soften. 

"You didn't say it," Dean replies, smirking a bit, "you just, like, moved your lips. I need to hear it."

He's playing with him. Everybody does. Everyone, except Finn Bálor; they, in a way, play with Seth and he's not buying it for a second.

Seth leans back to his chair and crosses his arms on his chest, glaring at him (well, at his eye), "seriously," he deadpans. "Listen, it's not my fault that you couldn't hear it. I said 'thank you' loud and clear and if you--

"You're welcome," Dean chimes in with a grin. Seth rolls his eyes and turns to face Finn in look for support, but he's just smiling at Dean as if he's smitten with him. Ok, this is not working. "I need a favor from you, though. In exchange for... y'know, _that._ "

Oh, that. Deep inside, Seth had a feeling that Dean wasn't coming here just to be nice to him, especially because he's what people call a bad boy and Seth basically applies for the definition of a nerd, and they simply don't match together in the same world, so--all right, Seth's definitely not thinking about being in the same world as Dean, no, nope.

Needless to say, Seth's not too impressed. Bad boys like Dean or jocks like Cena only want two things from the nerds like Finn and Seth: to help them with their grades or to be their punching bag. Most of the time, nerds help others with their grades and end up being thrown into a trash can regardless of the outcome, so it's evidently clear that the lovely students want both things at the same time from innocent people like Seth and Finn. Tragic.

"What do you want, Ambrose?" somehow, the mention of Dean's last name made the guy smile. Dean sure is something else, huh. "I swear to God, if it's about helping you with Calculus, you gotta--

"Well, Calculus is just one of them," Dean feigns an innocent face and Seth's got to control himself for a second. Finn looks extremely curious. "I need help in almost every subject."

Seth facepalms. Literally. "'Almost every sub-' oh, God..."

Finn laughs softly, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know, I know, but I really, really need to do this, because I won't graduate and if I don't graduate, my mom's gonna kick my ass out of our house; and Rollins, I know you're a good person, you wouldn't let Ambrose be homeless, right?" there's a shit-eating grin on Dean's face at the end that Seth would gladly wipe it off of him with a kiss or two.

Regardless of the fact that he wants to kiss Dean Ambrose, Seth needs a minute to process what Dean's just said.

"What?" it's strong and firm. And it basically describes the whole... view that Seth's got on this situation.

Finn hisses, "Jesus, ya can't pay attention for a second, right?"

"Seth, please," Dean seems to be more serious now. "I protected you from Orton."

"Oh, please, I was handling it well!" lies, lies, lies, lies. But who cares? Not Seth, huh. "Until you came up!"

"Princess, you looked like you knew you were going to be kidnapped by the guy. A damsel in distress."

"Do _not_ call me princess," Seth makes sure to emphasize every single word, as he stands and almost jumps the table to the other side. "And I am not a damsel in distress!". He doesn't need another stupid bad boy or jock or whatever calling him names. "My name is Seth Rollins."

"I know," Dean says plainly. "Will you help me, Seth Rollins?"

Dean's seriously considering it. He's there, sitting right there in front of Seth, after fighting for him (he hopes so) against Orton, asking him for help with his grades. _It's not a drill, Rollins, he's in for it._

Seth remembers very clearly the last time he's helped someone with their grades. At the end of sophomore year, Lesnar made sure that everyone saw his skinny body being thrown to the recycle bin outside school and lock him up inside as well. To say the very least, he wasn't convinced.

But there was something in Dean Ambrose--perhaps is his innocence radiating out of him everytime Seth makes a questioning face or the fact that he's been grinning ever since he sat in front of him. He has no idea. But he's having a bad day, if not the worst, and he now thinks that it can only get better with Dean's smile.

"Fine," he's still serious though, he doesn't want to give Dean any kind of freedom to celebrate. Dean might as well just burn his car now. "But it's going to be under _my_ conditions."

"Am I in place to put conditions?" Dean had a point and he's aware of it, so that's why he smiles. Seth wants to punch him. "Of course, pretty boy."

Seth rolls his eyes. "It's Seth."

Dean smiles as he gets on his feet, not bothering to take the tray with him. Seth notices he hasn't eaten anything. He has no idea why did he even notice.

"Sure thing, cupcake," Dean has the audacity to wink at Seth as he walks away, disappearing from the lunch room as if he'd no business in being here.

Seth wonders how is he going to succeed in making Dean sit and study in the first place.

"Too sweet."

"Shut up, Finn."

Finn laughs.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @nerdbrose in tumblr, shouting at dean and seth to stop being so cute together and reminding my mutuals that i love them so much i'd die for them.


End file.
